These Russian Men on a Nuclear Sub Put the Ice Bucket Challenge to Shame (Video)

Sep. 1, 2014

One of the sailors looks at the floating blocks of ice, preparing himself for a swim.

Russia has been rather slow to respond to the Ice Bucket Challenge craze that has taken the West by storm this summer, with President Vladimir Putin having ignored several appeals to douse himself for the charity.

But when it comes to braving icy water no one — no one — can outcompete the Russians, a video that resurfaced online last week shows.

Presumably dating back to 2013, the YouTube video shows two men on board a nuclear submarine strip down to their boxers before taking turns to calmly descend a ladder into the Arctic Ocean.

After dunking their heads underwater — which, according to the video description, is 2 degrees C — the sailors swiftly clamber back onto the hull and don their Russian military jackets before disappearing inside the sub.

Icebergs surrounding the vessel attest to the water's chilly temperature.

The Ice Bucket Challenge, an initiative of the U.S.-based charity ALS Association, which aims to raise awareness of motor neurone disease, sees participants tip a bucket of ice-cold water over their heads before nominating others to complete the challenge.

The hype has swept across the globe, and last month saw Hollywood actor Vin Diesel, comedian Seth Meyers and cult film director David Lynch raise a bucket of ice over their heads before challenging Putin to do the same.

While Putin refused, St. Petersburg Governor Georgy Poltavchenko and most recently nationalist politician Vladimir Zhirinovsky were quick to take up the gauntlet.

In a video broadcast on several Russian television channels on Saturday, Zhirinovsky duly completed the challenge before nominating Communist Party leader Gennady Zyuganov, businessman Mikhail Prokhorov, and the head of A Just Russia party Sergei Mitrokhin to pour ice-cold water over themselves and donate 100,000 rubles ($2700) to a children's charity.